Amanda Ellerby
Character Overview: Amanda Ellerby was born June 5, 2000 in small town, Willow Falls, on the same day as her best friend, Leonard "Leo" Fitzpatrick. Amanda makes her first appearance as the narrator and co-main character, along with Leo, in 11 Birthdays. In this book, Amanda is eleven and in the fifth grade. She and Leo, who are about to celebrate their 11th birthday, but are no longer friends after an incident in fourth grade. Throughout the book, she and Leo become best friends again after a strange occurence involving Angelina D'Angelo, the oldest lady in Willow Falls. The next time Amanda appears is in the next book, Finally. In this book Amanda is still eleven and best friends with Leo. She makes her next apearence in 13 Gifts ''shortly after her thirteenth birthday, and befriends Tara Brennan, who has recently arrived in Willow Falls. She is the narrator of the next book, ''The Last Present, where she and Leo must embark on yet another crazy journey together. She is best friends with Leo Fitzpatrick and has close relationships with Rory Swenson, David Goldberg, (whom she calls Bee Boy) Tara Brennan, and Stephanie. Relationships Leo Fitzpatrick: Amanda and Leo were both born on June 5 in Willow Falls, and have been best friends their whole lives, minus one year in fourth grade, when Amanda overheard Leo insulting her to his friends and avoided him for a year. The following year, Amanda and Leo reconciled after they were forced to relive their 11th birthday over and over again, thanks to an enchantment inherited from their great grandparents. The two then became closer than ever and put a stop to the enchantment together. Both Amanda and Leo appear consisently throughout the next book, Finally, where they each have a couple conversations with Rory that leave her confused. The two appear again in 13 Gifts, where they are now not communicating verbally and are instead using blackboards for an unknown reason. They both are eager to help Tara find the items on her list. Tara assumed they were a couple, but then decided they were just best friends. However, in The Last Present, the two began showing romantic tendencies, such as holding hands, and Leo ulimitmately kisses her on the beach, admitting that he has always liked her. Amanda then tells Tara and Rory that she would love to do it again. Kylie Ellerby: Kylie is her older sister who is noted to be flirty, pretty, and spiteful towards Amanda. Amanda says that there once was a time where they both got along, but now all Kylie cares about is her diary, boys, and her friends at school. They do become closer after 11 Birthdays. She never seems to do much to help Amanda until 13 Gifts. Rory Swenson: Rory and Amanda are just acquaintences in Finally, but soon become great friends,as read in 13 Gifts. In Finally, Rory runs into Amanda a few times throughout the book, and have conversations that Rory find very odd. It is revealed in The Last Present ''that Amanda and Leo became extras in the movie to keep an eye on Rory, because they knew she was associated with Angelina. Being the only girls in their group (Amanda, Rory, Leo, and David), they constantly step aside from the boys to have "Girl Talks" which are usually code for "We're talking about Angelina, but David can't know because he wouldn't understand". That said, Leo likes to jump in on their "Girl Talks" because he knows about Angelina, too. Amanda and Rory appear to be very close friends. David Goldberg: Amanda meets David in ''11 Birthdays, when he bursts out of his classroom in yellow and black (earning him the nickname Bee Boy) in need of a drawing of the periodic table, which Amanda provides him with. The two become close friends in 13 Gifts. Amanda feels guilty that David has no idea what is going on with Angelina, and she picks up on the fact that he likes Tara. Angelina's antics are revealed to him at the end of The Last Present, when he is standing in front of Angelina's shop with Amanda, Leo, Tara, and Rory and sees that the shop is, in fact, quite full, contrary to his past visual experiences. Tara Brennan: Amanda meets Tara in 13 Gifts, when Tara visits Willow Falls temporarily after getting suspended from school. The two become great friends, and Amanda and the gang help Tara with her Angelina problem. Amanda was very happy when she found out Tara would be moving to Willow Falls. Parents: She says that she likes her parents because her mom isn't too uptight and her dad isn't too big of a jokester. Stephanie: Stephanie is known as her best friend in "11 Birthdays" after Amanda and Leo stopped talking. She was friends with Amanda and Leo since they were six, and all 3 of them became best friends, but when they stopped talking, Stephanie chose to take Amanda's side and became her new best friend. Stephanie is great at gymnastics and is kind of girly. Ruby: Amanda says that Ruby was her friend when she was little, but one year Amanda was the only girl Ruby didn't invite to her birthday so she just assumed she didn't like her. Unfortunately, Ruby and Stephanie are also great friends and so she's forced to hang out with her. Despite Ruby's rude comments, Amanda tries to be as nice as she can to Ruby, which earns her some small smiles, but mostly no change in attitude. Appearance Amanda is 4'10" in 11 Birthdays, and then around 5'0" in Finally, then 5'1" in 13 Gifts. She has frizzy blonde hair, tons of freckles, and bright green eyes. She has the good looks of her older sister, Kylie Ellerby, except with more noticable quirks. Traits She's very sweet with a taste of sour when she wants to be.She's very curious, loyal, and intelligent. Although she best friends with a boy she still like to do girl things she acts excatly her age.